College Volleyball
Rider University 3, Maryland Eastern Shore 0
Fiesta Bowl Tournament - Day One
FLAGSTAFF, Arizona--How the west was won. Ok, it is only one match but when you have lost 15 straight matches dating back to last season, you take what you can get.
Led by 12 kills (and 14 points) from Arizona native, senior Katelyn Thompson (Tucson, Ariz./Catalina Foothills), the Rider University volleyball team defeated Maryland Eastern Shore 25-19, 25-20, 25-19 on day one of the 18th annual Fiesta Bowl Tournament at the Rolle Activity Center on the Northern Arizona University campus.
"Maybe it was the 'Zen experience' taking the team to Sedona," said head coach Emily Ahlquist. "Whatever it was, we'll take it. It is great to get that first win of the year. Overall, we played consistent volleyball and it was great for Katelyn to have her whole family here. She really stepped up her game."
Thompson, a 5-6 right side outside hitter, is an Elementary Education/Psychology major and conference All-Academic honoree who in 87 matches has compiled over 700 kills and almost 500 digs.
"Playing in front of my family and friends was a lot of fun," the Tucson native said. "I never get to play in front of them and especially seeing my mom really cheered me up. Picking up the win feels pretty good also. We didn't play our best but we got the job done."
Also for the Broncs, senior Amanda Piccolini (St. Clairsville, Ohio/St. Clairsville) had 24 assists and seven digs with sophomore Brittany Gajewski (Whitehouse Station/Hunterdon Central Regional) compiling six digs.
"Amanda distributed the ball very well tonight," said Ahlquist. "We are still working on her speed but she played hard."
In the opening set, trailing 19-18, Rider (1-1), finished with a 7-0 run on the strength of two kills by sophomore Stephanie Nagy (Muscatine, Iowa/Muscatine) and two service aces from freshman Megan Knott (West Caldwell/James Caldwell). Nagy finished with six kills and three blocks, accounting for eight points with Knott adding three digs and two kills.
Tied at 19 in the second set, Rider won six of the final seven points, with senior Elyse Grassmuck (San Antonio, Texas/La Vernia) and Piccolini picking up key service aces to give the Broncs a two-set lead. Rider had 12 service aces in the match, led by three each by Piccolini and Grassmuck. The match featured 24 ties and 15 lead changes, 11 ties and seven lead changes coming in the second set.
"We served tough tonight," said Ahlquist. "We kept them a little off balance and they could not sustain many rallies and that's what we wanted to do. They (Maryland Eastern Shore) have some very strong attackers. Elyse especially had her serve going, it was fast and it moves. She hit her spots and that made it tough on the UMES passers."
Rider broke a 14-14 tie in the final set with a 9-4 run; two kills by Thompson, opening up a five point lead at 23-18 enroute to a six point win to clinch the match.
Rider and UMES met last season at the Tribe Invitational, hosted by William and Mary with the Hawks posting a 3-0 win, 25-21, 25-18, 25-15.
The Broncs now lead the all-time series 5-2 and this is the first time since the 1995 season that the Rider has defeated UMES.
Rider opened the season with a 3-0 loss at La Salle on August 31. "We improved some aspects of our game from the La Salle match," Ahlquist added. "Some aspects still need to be worked on but we played steady and kept our energy high and that's what got us through some of the tougher parts of the match."
"We worked hard in practice to correct the mistakes we made against La Salle," Thompson said. "We are looking to continue to work and build as the season continues. We worked hard over the summer to push ourselves so we could start out the season strong. We came together with a common goal to fight as hard as we can and get the job done."
"It was just a good solid team effort," said Ahlquist. "UMES really couldn't concentrate on just one player, everyone stepped up and played hard and put in a solid match. It was a good team win and that type of play is what we will need heading into Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play in a few weeks."
Rider plays the host Lumberjacks and Texas A&M Corpus Christi on Saturday before flying back to campus. "We need to continue to build off what we did tonight and keep our energy high," Thompson added about the two matches on Saturday.
The Broncs last participated in this tournament in 2004 against Akron, UC-Riverside, Davidson and NAU.
Rider opens the 2010 home schedule on September 8 against Temple at 6:00pm in Alumni Gym.
-RU-
